Phenolic resin adhesives containing resorcinol, formaldehyde and an alkali metal carbonate

ABSTRACT

Rapidly curable and highly extendable phenolic resin adhesives are obtained by adding resorcinol, formaldehyde and an alkali metal carbonate to a water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resin at room temperature just before application of the adhesive to the surfaces to be bonded.

United States Patent 11 1 Murata et al.

1 51 Dec. 30, 1975 [54] PHENOLIC RESIN ADHESIVES CONTAINING RESORCINOL, FORMALDEHYDE AND AN ALKALI METAL CARBONATE [75] Inventors; Takao Murata; Nobutaka Nakamura; Yukio Saeki, all of Fujieda, Japan [73] Assignee: Sumitomo Durez Company, Ltd.,

Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 327,512

[52] US. Cl. 260/17.5; 156/335; 260/17.2; 260/29.3; 26O/5l.5; 260/54 [51] Int. Cl. C08G 8/22 [58] Field of Search 260/54, 51.5, 17.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,802,390 4 1931 Novotny 2150 54 2,385,372 9/1945 Rhodes 2,429,369 10/1947 Rhodes 2,478,943 8/1949 Rhodes 2,489,336 11/1949 Spahr et al 260/54 2,502,511 4/1950 Davies et al. 260/54 2,513,274 7/1950 Barkhuff 260/54 X 2,527,581 10/1950 Searer et a1... 260/54 X 2,541,688 '2/1951 Cardwell 1 260/54 X 2,589,286 3/1952 Rhodes 260/54 3,328,354 6/1967 Dietrick 1 260/54 3,599,433 8/1971 Murata et a1. 260/5l.5 3,696,622 10/1972 Tohma et al 260/51.5

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7,367,360 9/1973 Japan OTHER PUBLICATIONS Phenolic Resins, Whitehouse, pp. 8586, 139, 1970.

Primary Examiner-Howard E. Schain Attorney, Agent, or FirmPeter F. Casella; James F. Mudd; David A. Stein 5? ABSTRACT Rapidly curable and highly extendable phenolic resin adhesives are obtained by adding resorcinol, formaldehyde and an alkali metal carbonate to a water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resin at room temperature just before application of the adhesive to the surfaces to be bonded.

6 Claims, No Drawings PHENOLIC RESIN AnmzslvEs CONTAINING RESORCINOL, FORMALDEHYDE AND AN ALKALI METAL CARBONATE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to anovel phenolic resin adhesive. Further explained in detail, it is related to a method for preparing a rapidly curable and highly extendable phenolic resin adhesive which consists of adding a resorcinol, a formaldehyde and an alkali metal carbonate to a water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resin at room temperature just before its application.

Asa water-soluble phenolic resin adhesive is generally prepared by reacting phenols such as phenol, cresols, etc. and aldehydes such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, etc. in a strong alkaline system, usual acid hardeners cannot be used as a hardening agent. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a higher temperature and longer time in its curing process when compared with other thermosetting resin adhesives such as urea resin or melamine urea co-condensation resin etc. Consequently, phenolic resin adhesives are markedly limited in their uses in spite of their remarkably excellent bonding strength, water resistance and durability, owing to the low productivity of their bonded products, for example, plywood, which require longer time for their adhesion.

Several methods are known in the art which relate to shortening the setting time of phenolic resin adhesives. First, there are methods which use various kinds of alkali metal hydroxides, water-soluble alkali metal weak acid salts, or water-insoluble multivalent metal carbonates as an accelerator of curing speed of phenolic resin under heat. These methods accelerate the thermosetting speed of phenolic resins, but they cannot shorten the setting time of water-soluble phenolic resin adhesives to the extent of that of urea resin or melamine-urea co-condensation resin adhesives.

The second group are methods which add resorcinol or resorcinol resin, or resorcinol and formaldehyde to phenolic resins just before their application. The methods of this group also accelerate the thermosetting speed of water-soluble phenolic resin, but the former case has a defect of markedly raising the price of adhesive by using a large quantity of expensive resorcinol, and in the latter case where resorcinol and formaldehyde are used together, the degree of accelerating the thermosetting speed is not comparable to the short curing time or urea resin or melamine-urea co-condensation resin, and moreover it increases the price of the prepared adhesive.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,328,354 and 3,389,125 describe adhesives wherein the resorcinol is incorporated in the phenolic resin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION We have found that when resorcinol, formaldehyde with alkali metal carbonate are'added to water-soluble phenolic resin just before use of the glue at room temperature, the thermosetting speed of a watersoluble phenolic resin adhesive is remarkably accelerated and also the adhesive is rendered highly extendable by add- DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Phenolic resins used in the present invention are water-soluble thermosetting condensation products which are made by reacting one or several kinds of hydroxy' aromatic compounds (phenols) with one or several kinds of aldehydes by using an alkaline catalyst. Also, they include the resins in which urea or lignin were substituted for up to one half the phenols in the composition of phenolic resin. Phenols used generally are phenol, cresol, and other substituted phenols, and there are included in aldehyde substances such formaldehyde donors such as formalin, para-formaldehyde, a-polyoxymethylene, etc., or aldehydes such as acetaldehyde, furfural, and the like having up to about 8 carbon atoms, but they are not limited within the scope mentioned here. Caustic soda is the most suitable practical alkaline catalyst, but caustic potash, barium hydroxide, etc., can also be included. As aqueous solvent, water is mostly suitable, but mixed solvents which consist of water and water-soluble lower alcohols,water and other water-soluble organic solvents are included. These aqueous solvents are used with solid contents of such phenolic resins, being within a range of between about 30 and 60 percent, preferably between about 35 and 50 percent.

The molar ratio of phenols to aldehydes for the preparation of water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resins used in the present invention are generally from about 1:15 to 1:3, preferably from about 1:1.7 t0 112.5 and are reacted with an alkaline catalyst in aqueous solvents. On the other hand, it is preferable for the watersoluble phenolic resin which is suitable for the present invention to be stable for long term storage, therefore such a water-soluble phenolic resin is reacted until its free formaldehyde content becomes less than three (3) percent, preferably less than one (1 percent by weight.

Further, the phenolic resins used in-the present invention include such a water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resin which is obtained by the following procedure: phenols and aldehydes are reacted in a range of molar ratio of about 1:0.65 to 1:0.90 by using acid catalyst, then more aldehydes are added until the range of molar ratio of phenols to aldehyde in total becomes about 1:1.5 to 1:3, preferably from about 121.7 to 1:2.5 with an alkaline catalyst.

Formaldehyde added at room temperature just before application of the adhesive in the present invention includes such formaldehyde donors as formalin, para-formaldehyde, a-polyoxymethylene, etc., and it is preferable to use formalin or powdered para-formaldehyde from the standpoint of solubility, dispersibility, etc. The amount of formaldehyde to be added is based on the thermosetting speed of phenolic resin itself required for its application, and in general, are in a range from about one (1) to ten (10 preferably from about one (1) to five (5) parts for one hundred parts of such a phenolic resin. Whereas the quantity of formaldehyde to be added is not limited from the standpoint of accelerating the thermosetting speed, it may be restricted from standpoints such as generating odor or shortening the pot life of the prepared adhesive by increase in viscosity during its application.

The quantity of resorcinol added in the present invention is not limited from the standpoint of accelerating thermosetting speed, but it is preferable to maintain 3 the quantity in a range from about one (1) to five (5) parts to one hundred (100) parts of phenolic resin when considering the increase in price or the shortening of pot life of the adhesive caused by viscosity increase when applying it.

Alkali metal carbonates such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate are used in the present invention, and both are excellent in accelerating the thermosetting speed of phenolic resin. The quantity of alkali metal carbonate to be added is not limited from the standpoint of accelerating thermosetting speed, but, if it is added in excess, the drying of such an adhesive after coating is too fast and the allowable open time is shortened, so it is preferable to maintain it in a range from about one (1) to five (5) parts to one hundred (100) parts of phenolic resin.

in the present invention, the addition of resorcinol, formaldehyde and alkali metal carbonate to the phenolieresin is mostly effective at room temperature just beforeapplication of the adhesive. The phenolic resin with resorcinol, formaldehyde and alkali metal carbonate does not diminish its accelerated thermosetting speed when left standing; however, its viscosity increases gradually and it gradually becomes difficult to -spread it, so it is desirable to add those additives into :the phenolicresin at room temperature just before the coating process. The resorcinol, formaldehyde and alkali metal carbonate can be incorporated into the phenolic resin in a variety of methods. Thus, a premix of.-resorcinol and alkali metal carbonate under the required proportion can be added into the phenolic resin just before use, and the required formaldehyde -can.be added as a separate component. A method wherepara-formaldehyde used as a formaldehyde .donor in the required proportion premixed with an the same extent as the usual urea resin adhesives or melamineurea co-condensation resin adhesives with the same bonding time described above, and can be especially applied to plywood manufacture as an adhesive of reasonable price, rapid cure, excellent bonding strength. Moreover, the invention is applicable to usual phenolic resins on-the market by adding resorcinol, formaldehyde and alkali metal carbonate at room temperature just before application of the adhesive. The mixing thereby is able to be carried out in usual mixing vessels.

Following examples are shown to explain in detail the effect and difference of the present invention from usual methods, but the present invention is not restricted by them. The part described herein refers to parts by weight and temperatures are in degrees centigrade unless otherwise specified.

EXAMPLE 1 Phenol and formaldehyde are reacted under reflux in a molar ratio of 2.0, using sodium carbonate as a catalyst, and a pH of about 11 until the viscosity of the product at 25C becomes about 1.5 poise. As a result, we obtain a water-soluble phenolic resin with properties shown as follows:

Gelation time (min/l 10C) 33 Non-volatile matter 41 Water tolerance (at 25C) more than 49 times Free formaldehyde 0.7

pH (at 25C, glass electrode) 10.8 Viscosity (poise/25C) 1.6

The gelation time at 110C of the adhesive mixture consisting of two (2) parts of resorcinol, para-formaldehyde and sodium carbonate respectively added to one hundred (100) parts of water-soluble phenolic resin described above was 11 minutes.

Then, five (5) samples of plywood were prepared under following conditions using the adhesive of Example 1.

1. Composition of Glue:

of phenolic resin wheat flour, corn flour and other cereal flours, and the like.

Bonding time required for the water-soluble phenolic resin adhesives prepared by the present invention is markedly shorter than usual water-soluble phenolic resin adhesives, and excellent bonding strength is obtained within bonding time equivalent to the usual urea resin adhesives or melamine-urea co-condensation resin adhesives, and moreover they can be extended to 2. Bonding conditions: Construction: Lauan veneer (thickness 2mm, moisture content. less than 7%) 3 plies Glue spread: 30 33 gram/ft Cold press (at I 20C): IOKg/cm 30 minutes l-lot press (at C):

10kg/cm 2 minutes and 30 seconds* "'Note: Hot press time alloted per 1 mm thickness of veneer is 25 seconds.

Bonding strengths of plywoods thus obtained are shown in Table 2 as fol1ows: (All numerical values are averages of twelve tests.)

TABLE 2 Plywood Sample No. Test 1 2 3 4 5 Wood failure by the knife test at nonnal 97 93 93 97 87 conditions Bonding strength (Kg/cm 19.6 20.8 20.3 18.3 17.6 Wood failure 100 99 98 98 81 Note: Results based on the repeated boiling test described in the Japan Agriculture and Forestry Standard.

EXAMPLE 2 TABLE 4-continued l 5 The specification of the water-soluble phenolic resin Glue Test 6 7 I 8 9 on the market used herein [8 as follows:

Wood failure 86 100 96 93 Gelation time (min./1 10C) 36 "Note: Results based on the repeated boiling test" of the Japan Agriculture and Non-volatile matter 47 Forestry Slandafd- Water tolerance (C) more than 49 times Free formaldehyde 0.9 I P" 25C, glass electrode) As in the present example, similar results were also Viscosity (poise/25C) 2.1

obtained when using potassium carbonate in place of I sodium carbonate. Gelation times of the above-described adhesive to which resorcinol, formaldehyde and sodium carbonate EXAMPLE 3 1 were added at room temperature according to the fol- Urea and formalin were reacted minutes at 100C lowing description were both shortened. in a molar ratio of 1:2 at a pH of about 8.5 by using caustic soda as a catalyst, then phenol was further 30 added with its molar ratio to urea being 2:1 and the g l resin 1 whole mixture was further reacted 30 minutes at 100C esoremol 1 3 Para-formaldehyde 2 5 at a pH of less than 1 by adding hydrochloric acld. 3 2 Further, formalin, with its molar ratio to'the phenol Gelation'time (min/110C) 14 10 described above being 2:1was added and reacted 30 I minutes at 100C, at a pH of about 1 l by adding caustic soda as a catalyst. The resin thus prepared had the Four kinds of adhesives were also prepared accordfollowing properties: ing to the following formulae and plywood samples were prepared by the same procedure as described in Gelation time (min./110C) 35 Exam le 1. 1 Non-volatile matter V 47 v C p f l 1 40 Water tolerance (25C) more than 49 times omposltlon o g Free formaldehyde 0.9

TABLE 3 Glue No. Composition 6 7 8 9 Phenolic resin 100 100 100 100 Resorcinol 1 3 1 3 Para-formaldehyde 2 3.5 2 3.5 Sodium carbonate 3 2 I 3 2 Walnut powder 5 4 10 10 Wheat flour 0 0 l5 15 Water 0 5 28 35 Extended magnification for one part 1.1 1 1.175 1.59 1.685 of phenolic resin pH (at 25C, glass electrode) 11.2 Viscosity (poise/25C) 2.6

Gelation time of the adhesives which were prepared by mixing resorcinol, formaldehyde and sodium carbonate and the above-described water-soluble phenolic resin at room temperature, were all shortened:

Bonding strengths of the'plywoods obtained herein are shown in Table 4 as follows: (All numerical values are averages of twelve tests.)

TABLE 4 Glue No. Urea-modified phenolic resin 100 100 T 6 7 g 9 Resorcinol 2 3 Para-formaldehyde 2 3.5

Wood failure by the Sodium carbonate 2 1 knife test at normal 97 v100 95 98 conditions Gelation time (min/C) 12 10 Bonding strength" (Kg/cm 20.3 19.0 18.8 20.4

Adhesives for plywood were prepared as described Whereas, No. 14 is the basic phenolic resin itself, No.

below, and four kinds of corresponding plywood sam- 15, No.16 and No. 17 are phenolic resin adhesives with ples were also prepared with the same bonding condiresorcinol of one part and para-formaldehyde of 2 parts tions as described in Example 1. added respectively. No. 15 is the case where there is no Composition of glue: addition of sodium carbonate. Therefore, the effective- TABLE 5 Glue No.

Composition 1 1 12 13 Urea-modified phenolic resin 100 100 100 100 Resorcinol 2 3 2 3 Para-formaldehyde 2 3.5 2 3.5

Sodium carbonate 2 1 2 1 Walnut powder 4 4 10 10 "Wheat flo'ur 0 0 10 10 Water 2 5 Ek tended magnifica- ,tion for one part 1.12 1.165 1.56 1.625

of phenolic resin --Bonding strengths of plywood samples obtained ness of using sodium carbonate together is distinct by .herein are shown in Table 6 as follows: (All numerical comparing the difference of gelation times between values are averages of twelve tests.) No. 16 and No. 17. Also, the effectiveness of adding 25 sodium carbonate is clear by comparison of gelation TABLE 6 times among the three adhesives Nos. 18, 19, and 20 to 52 K521 I l which are added 3 parts of resorcinol and 3.5 parts of '1 [0 12 13 para-formaldehyde. But, if caustic soda is used in place W6 {aim-vie bythe v V 1 of sodium carbonate herein, the gelation times are knife test at the. 1 v I 93 99 1 9 9Q 30 delayed on the contrary. *No. 21 and No. 22 are exami m condltions 1 P ples of adding only sodium carbonate, and the shorten- Borlding strength I Kg/cm) i 1&0 1&8 163 mg of cure speeds 15 not conspicuous. 'Woodfai1ure**(.%)"1 67 I 74 64 The rapid curability of No. 16, No. 17, No. 19 and No. 20 adhesives prepared by the present invention 5 became'inore clear by the followingplywood bonding strength test. Veneers were treated with adhesives desr ignated No. 14 to No. 22, and nine (9) plywood sain- COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES ples were prepared by the same bonding condition described in Example 1 The adhesive compositions are 40 shown in Table 8.

Comparison of bonding strength of the nine plywoods was made by the repeated boiling test of the Japanese. Agricultureand Forestry Standard (JAS) for Type 1 plywood. The results are shown in Table 8, for Boiling Test No. 1.

'-* *N8ie'"Rsuns'based oh ih'e r 'eimd boiling test" described in the Japanese "Agriculture and Forestry Standard. I i

The gelation time and plywood'bonding strength of the adhesives prepared by the present invention using a water-soluble phenolic resin which-were obtained by the description in Example 1 were compared with various adhesives lacking one of the additives, resorcinol, formaldehyde and sodium carbonate used in the present invention. The results are shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Glue No. Composition 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Phenolic resin 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Resorcinol 0 1 1 1 3 3 3 0 0 Para-formaldehyde 0 2 2 2 3.5 3.5 3.5 0 0 Sodium carbonate 0 0 l 3 0 1 3 1 3 Gelation time (min./ C) 33 20 14 12 '13 9 7.5 25 21 TABLE 8 Glue No.

.composition 14 15 16 17 18 I 19 20 21 22 Phenolic resin 100 100 100 100 100 100 100- 100 100 Resorcinol 0 1 1 1 3 3 3 0 0 Para-formaldehyde 0 2 2 2 3.5 3 5 3.5 0 0 Sodium carbonate 0 0 1 3 0' 1 3 1 3 Walnut powder 5 5 5 5 v 4 4 5 5 Water 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 0 0 Extended magnification for one part 1.05 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.155 1.165 1.185 1.06 1.08 of phenolic resin Boiling Test No. 1 X F P P F P P X X TABLE 8-continued Glue No. Composition l4 l5 l6 l7 l8 19 2O 21 22 Boiling Test No. 2 X P P X P P X: Delamination, disqualified F: Shows a bonding strength of less than 7 Kg/cm, disqualified. P: Shows a bonding strength of more than 7 Kglcm, qualified for Type l plywood.

Excluding No. 14, No. 21 and No. 22 which were We claim:

delaminated in the repeated boiling test No. l on the plywoods prepared by using the adhesives described above, adhesives No. l5 to No. 20 were extended to about 1.6 times (against 1 part of phenolic resin) by using walnut powder, wheat flour and water, and the corresponding plywoods were again prepared by the adhesion conditions described in Example 1, and the above-described repeated boiling tests were carried out. The results are shown in Table 8 for Boiling Test No. 2.

As it is clear by these results, the adhesives which exhibited excellent rapid curability and bonding strength after being highly extended were all prepared by the present invention. For adhesive blends of Nos.

adhesives which have rapid curability and are highly extendable.

The foregoing specification is intended to illustrate and exemplify the invention, but not to limit it. Various changes and modifications can be made in the compositions and methods of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. An adhesive composition comprising in admixture:

l. a water-soluble thermosetting phenolic resin which consists essentially of a condensation product of a monohydroxy-phenol and an aldehyde in a mole ratio of phenol to aldehyde of about 121.5 to 1:3, and

2. a curing agent consisting essentially of resorcinol,

a formaldehyde donor and an alkali metal carbonate, wherein said formaldehyde donor is in a proportion of about 1 to 10 parts by weight per parts of said phenolic resin, said resorcinol is in proportion of about 1 to 5 parts by weight per lOO parts of said phenolic resin, and said alkali metal carbonate is in a proportion of about 1 to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts of said phenolic resin.

2. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein a portion of the phenol is replaced by urea or lignin.

3. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein said formaldehyde donor is formaldehyde.

4. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein said alkali metal carbonate is sodium carbonate.

5. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein the phenol and aldehyde of said phenolic resin are phenol and formaldehyde, respectively.

6. The adhesive composition of claim 1 which also contains an extender.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 3929695 DATED Dec. 30, 1975 |NVENTOR(S) Takao Murata; Nobutaka Nakamura; Yukio Sacki It is certified that error appears in the ahoveidentified patent and that said Letters Patent Q are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, Line 51 "or" should read-of-; line 62, "watersoluble" should read--water-soluble--.

' Column 4, Line 2 "melamineurea" should read--melamineurea-.

Signed and Sealed this Nineteenth D3) Of October 1976 [SEAL] Arrest.-

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner nfPalenIs and Trademarks 

1. AN ADHESIVE COMPOSITION COMPRISING IN MIXTURE:
 1. A WATER-SOLUBLE THERMOSETTING PHENOLIC RESIN WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF A CONDENSATION PRODUCT OF A MONOHYDROXY-PHENOL AND AN ALDEHYDE IN A MOLE RATIO OF PHENOL TO ALDEHYDE OF ABOUT 1:1.5 TO 1:3, AND
 2. A CURING AGENT CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF RESORCINOL, A FORMALDEHYDE DONOR AND AN ALKALI METAL CARBONATE, WHEREIN SAID FORMALDEHYDE DONOR IS IN A PROPORTION OF ABOUT 1 TO 10 PARTS BY WEIGHT PER 100 PARTS OF SAID PHENOLIC RESIN, SAID RESORCINOL IS IN PROPORTION OF ABOUT 1 TO 5 PARTS BY WEIGHT PER 100 PARTS OF SAID PHENOLIC RESIN, AND SAID ALKALI METAL CARBONATE IS IN A PROPORTION OF ABOUT 1 TO 5 PARTS BY WEIGHT PER 200 PARTS OF SAID PHENOLIC RESIN.
 2. a curing agent consisting essentially of resorcinol, a formaldehyde donor and an alkali metal carbonate, wherein said formaldehyde donor is in a proportion of about 1 to 10 parts by weight per 100 parts of said phenolic resin, said resorcinol is in proportion of about 1 to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts of said phenolic resin, and said alkali metal carbonate is in a proportion of about 1 to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts of said phenolic resin.
 2. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein a portion of the phenol is replaced by urea or lignin.
 3. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein said formaldehyde donor is formaldehyde.
 4. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein said alkali metal carbonate is sodium carbonate.
 5. The adhesive composition of claim 1 wherein the phenol and aldehyde of said phenolic resin are phenol and formaldehyde, respectively.
 6. The adhesive composition of claim 1 which also contains an extender. 